, 1887-05-01

puuiCtett 10 pose tnen with questions, re-
marks on reconcile subjects, illusions to
remote and little known occurrences,
md then watch the effect on his victim
with a searching and malignant eye;
indeed, l ave seen more than one man
Of imposing presence, and well advanced
IN years, quail before the imp, as, hands
IN kn~ickerbocker pockets, he has taken
mp its position by him for purposes OF
iisCusSion.
fear | playcdn mean part with 10
gard 4" this boy. for, with a supreme
effort. 1 tried to hide the burning hatred
felt for i even laid myself nj to
win his friendship, listening with bland
interest as he informed me that he in.
tended to get a scholarship to Cambridge
by and by.
IF I'm not senior wrangler and first
smiths prizeman when I'm 81 you may
"ritc fool on my ~foreheadi'
All this | listened to with apparent in
terest. and was base enough to ask the
dreadful child what profession he should
choose when college days were done.
Profession? Haven't decided yet.
All the PROFESSIONS will be open to me, of
course, but 1 shan't decide in a hurry.
Father rather ~inclines toward the church;
ihAN hA'F al Nous l. ~ u 10 u y
Besides, by the time I'm a man most
likely there'u be no state church. Mother
thinks l should shine at the bar, but Of
course a woman's opinions worth moth
ing. What / should choose, for my own
part, 1 think would be public life-some-
thing in diplomacy-some official post
where I should have a chance of being
prime minister by and by"
For Flg,n'a auyaat saba did I nttt I'm with
the perorations of this intolerable urchin.
For her sweet sake did / make my APP.
pearance at so many of their Thursday
evenings that even the professor began to
know who I was. But / made no way
with Ellie. l looked at books with her,
l talked to her, and she smiled and
answered in her soft voice; but she re-
manned u stranger. My beloved was
very shy-a rare and precious quality in
these days-and the course Of true love,
in my case, not only did not run smooth,
but did MOI seem inclined to run at ALL
On n occasion, in a frantic endeavor
to earn Miss Reds gratitude and friend
ship, l spent one of my none too plentiful
sovereigns on a couple Of tickets for a
grand concert at st. James hall, at
which NJ. Ladislaus de Thraskkeys, the
great Polish pianist, was to play, and
Mime. Acciacatura, of the Italian opera.
was to sing. These tickets / bore to the
Reids' house, having concoted a strange
romance about my being connected with
musical celebrities in order hat l might
not appear to have bought them. /
found Mrs. Reid at home, and she ac-
copied the tickets for herself and daughter
with alactrity. A day or two later,
meeting both ladies out walking, and
venturing to 'hope the concert had been
enjoyable, it transpired that Ellie had
been detained at home that evening by
her papa, who wanted some copying
work done. Ny hard earned sovereign
had been spent, it seemed, on providing
an evenings amusement for Mrs. Reid
and the prodigy!
Week after week, month after month,
l went on loving Ellie. Spring, early
summer, passed. With August came
my annual holiday. Should i go for the
walking our 1 had planned: 1 was
uncertain, until n hot day, meeting
Alfred Reid in the street, and simu-
lating friendship for him, he let drop
the following remarks: mo more
school for eight weeksl Hooray!
We're all off to Toftburn tomorrow
except pa, and he's going to Cairo
with Professor Mummery!' Ny holiday
destination was decided on in that mo-
ment. i, too, would go to Toftburn.
There, in the unconventional atmosphere
Of a seaside resort; there, with countless
opportunities of meeting, surely-surely
would my courtship progress as it had
never lone in London.
Two days later 1 found myself occupy
ing a parlor and bedroom in Ocean Ter
race, Toftburn by the Sea. l was a little
low the first evening, as l ate a chop and
looked round the roonI-a little parlor in
which 1 seemed to have lodged at every
seaside place / had ever visited. On the
walls were the trial of Lord William
Russell, and Archbishop Laud's hands
coming out Of q grating to bless Stafford
on the latter's way to execution-two
prints that l have never yet been able to
escape from in lodgings. There was q
chiffonniere with looking glass in the
doors-faulty looking glass. that gave you
deformed legs and feet as you walked
past it. On the mantel piece was q
tawdry gilt clock; a gilt Cupid leaned
over the top to find out the time, but
never did find 1t out, for the clock had
stopped. These things weighed upon my
spirits, not too high before, and / cried in
despair: s'oh, E1fel Elhel 1 shall never
win you'll
Toftburn by the Sea is a gay and
much frequented watering place, and
presents precisely the same attrac-
tons as some dozens of its compeers.
Fine people lodged there, in all the large,
white houses and clean, bright squares
along the front, and they swarmed every
where, their various grown up sons and
daughters, in the gayest and coolest of
summer attire, doing a vast amount of
~spooning. Turn where l might in my
rambles-in the shade of the sailing boats
drawn up on the beach, in the refreshing
GOODNESS of the landing place beneath the
pier head, where the water heaved in
emerald green hillocks among the stairs
and rafters-I stumbled upon a striped
tennis jacket making love TO a spotted
muslin, and beat a hasty and envious re-
treat.
For the first week 1 was In high spirits.
/ met Ellie continually, sometimes with
her mother, sometimes with the prodigy.
I gazed at her; l walked with her. Oh,
80 lovelyi in a navy blue yachting dress
and large sailor hatl I tried to detain
her hand at parting, but it was hastily
drawn away. I spent hard cash upon